# From "The Hidden History of Beverages" by Alexander Lukashev

## 18. Bay and Cherry Leaf Tea

Part Two (recipes), chapter 18 · Drunk whenever you like
Page: https://herbalmind.bar/recipes/bay-cherry-leaf-tea/

after-dinner drink · taste: resinous with an almond note; markedly astringent · preparation time: 20 minutes

Plants:
- bay leaf (Laurus nobilis L.) — no European Medicines Agency monograph
- cherry leaf (Prunus cerasus L. or Prunus avium (L.) L.) — no European Medicines Agency monograph

From “Before You Begin,” the book’s safety page (free: https://herbalmind.bar/before-you-begin/):
- Fifteen of the recipes are drunk whenever you like. Make them at whatever frequency suits you, within the limits each chapter gives.
- The cherry leaf of Chapter 18 is cyanogenic: crushing it releases benzaldehyde, which is the almond scent, and hydrogen cyanide, which comes out of the same reaction.
- At the amount Chapter 18 uses it is a flavoring, not a base to brew by the potful; wilted leaves are not to be used at all.
- Pregnancy: Twenty-six of the twenty-eight recipes here are restricted in pregnancy — most because safety has not been established rather than because harm has been shown, but the answer is the same either way. The two that carry no restriction are the rosehip brew of Chapter 26 and the sea buckthorn of Chapter 28, both of them fruits eaten as food across Europe.

The recipe itself — amounts and preparation, who should not drink it, how much and for how long — is in chapter 18 of the book: https://books.apple.com/book/id6756108723

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These are chapter cards — what each chapter covers, with a few short answers and the book’s free pages — not the chapters themselves.
Apple Books, with a free sample: https://books.apple.com/book/id6756108723
Other stores: https://books2read.com/u/mqlAwO